It Would Be Night in Caracas

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date: 15 Oct 2019

Member Reviews

First published in Spain in 2019; published in translation by HarperCollins/HarperVia on October 15, 2019

Adelaida Falcón, the narrator of It Would Be Night in Caracas, begins the novel with her mother’s death and funeral, including her fear that grave robbers will make off with her mother’s glasses. She pays for the burial with one of her last 50-euro notes, the bolivar having become a currency that is useful only for lighting fires. Her neighbors wonder if she will rent out the room in which her mother slept, but Adelaida will not have that chance as criminals take over her apartment. She survives by quietly inhabiting the apartment of a dead neighbor — a salvation made possible only because nobody else has discovered the neighbor’s corpse.

Criminal gangs roam the streets, often under the protection of the police. Food shortages have caused long lines and a thriving black market. Yet Adelaida is determined not to be anyone’s victim. Flashbacks to her time with her mother show us that Adelaida has her own mind and is stubborn about changing it.

The plot follows Adeliada’s scheme to escape to Spain by taking over the dead neighbor’s identity. Yet the story’s power lies not in the plot, which follows a simple and predictable path that depends on unlikely happenstance, but in the details of Adelaida’s life. People Adelaida knows are being murdered. Journalists are killed for reporting the truth. Their sources are killed for revealing the truth. A criminal friend risks his life to help Adeliada, suggesting that crime is sometimes an inescapable circumstances rather than a character flaw.

Adeliada condemns Venezuela’s upper class for judging her as the daughter of a single mother. She also condemns the nation’s obsession with beauty and youth, with keeping up appearances as everything falls apart, with its acceptance of men who walk out on their families. “The result was a nation built on the cleft of its own contradictions, on the tectonic fault of a landscape always on the brink of tumbling down on its inhabitants’ heads.”

Adeliada reserves much of her commentary for what Caracas has lost. Once a vibrant city of immigrants, built with the energy of people looking for a new and different life, the “children of those immigrants, people who bore little resemblance to their surnames, starting heading back across the ocean to countries that were home to other people, searching for the stock with which their own country was built.”

It Would Be Night in Caracas benefits from rich and evocative prose. Still, the novel is largely a howl of pain at the loss of a beloved country. While the plot builds little tension (there’s never a doubt about the outcome), tension is inherent in the anarchy and danger of a city gone feral. As a snapshot of the impossible anguish that ordinary residents of Caracas must endure, the novel has something to say. I recommend it for its value as a snaphot, not for its doubtful merit as a fully realized novel.

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A fantastic look into the reality of living in the chaos that has become modern Venezuela. This is a brilliant translation that needs to be praised so that more readers will pick up this book. I look forward to hearing more from Sainz Borgo.
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Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

It Would Be Night In Caracas
By: Karina Sainz Borgo

*REVIEW* 💛💛💛
It Would Be Night In Caracas was not what I expected. Adelaide has just buried her mother, and she is, essentially,  alone in the world now.  The story details the corruption, violence, upheaval and chaos occurring in Venezuela. These issues are relevant and extremely important, and I'm glad the author addresses them. She spares no detail of the raw, gritty, painful, horrible life Adelaide is living. It's disturbing to read because it's the reality of so many lives, and no-one should have to live in such conditions. Everything about Adelaide felt painful and utterly despairing. I honestly don't think I would survive in this situation.  My only problem is the very slow pace of this story. The content is engaging and informative, but it's difficult to get through because it feels bogged down and never picks up speed. This book is not for everyone, but I would give it a try if these topics and issues intrest you.
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The grieving of a mother and of a country. That is what, in a nutshell, It Would Be Night in Caracas by Karina Sainz Borgo, translated by Elizabeth Bryer, is about.

In Caracas, Venezuela, Adelaida Falcón has just buried her mother, a process that is made even more difficult by the explosive violence and scarcity gripping her country. People are routinely arrested and tortured, supermarket shelves are empty, the black market flourishes selling anything from medication to sanitary napkins, and blackouts are a regular occurrence. When thugs take over Adelaida's home, she discovers her neighbor dead in the apartment next door. If she can impersonate the neighbor, she might be able to get out of the country using the dead woman's Spanish passport.

Told like this, the novel sounds like a tense case of The Talented Mr. Ripley, but set in South America. Be warned: It's not really a thriller. The book is too quiet and small for that, and does not seem interested in turning into a suspense novel. This, partially, gives the feeling that things are a bit too easy when it comes to Adelaida's escape. She just happens to wander into an apartment with an open door, happens to find a corpse inside, the dead woman happens to have just left behind all the documents Adelaida might need to assume her identity. In that sense, this is no Hollywood movie and there are few, if any, surprises.

On the other hand, where It Would Be Night in Caracas does feel like a movie is in the descriptions of a city in chaos; Sainz Borgo presents violence and anarchy in minute and shocking detail.

She also pays loving and close attention to the relationship between mother and daughter, to the daily life before strife broke out in Venezuela, and spends many pages ruminating on the issues of immigration and finding one's home. The novel's original title is The Spanish Woman's Daughter, which reflects the constant thoughts of the protagonist about the European immigrants who established themselves in Latin America when it was full of opportunity, and how their children now desperately seek to return to Europe.

Unfortunately, Sainz Borgo doesn't lend nearly as much space to considerations about colorism and classism, and how they fed into the political circumstances that plunged Venezuela into economic ruin. Adelaida seems to view herself with a lofty superiority because she is an editor and former journalist who loves books and dreamily recalls all things European (an old house, the Italian shoe store where her mother shopped, a set of nice dishes), never quite pausing to consider the oppression, scarcity and poverty that has fueled the wave of violence she is living through. But this myopia is somewhat understandable, considering that Adelaida seems to exist in an interior world, a tiny capsule built for two: It's Adelaida and her mother against the universe, until Adelaida is left alone. And it is when Adelaida retreats inwards that the book feels the most poignant and raw.

Yet, because of this interiority, Sainz Borgo's account of the terror gripping the nation feels amorphous. Rather than a political conflict, this could be a zombie apocalypse for all we know — and we know very little, especially considering Adelaida is a well-read, well-informed woman.

Though these might seem serious gripes, I found the language in the book to be poetic; it kept me reading, immersed in the beauty of the prose. It Would Be Night in Caracas is a painful, angry book, full of melancholy and rage at the loss of a woman's nation.
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"It Would Be Night in Caracas" starts with a simple plot: a single woman is burying her mother. She goes back to the apartment that they shared and starts to deal with the process of grief. The problem is that she lives in Caracas, Venezuela, and it is quickly apparent that every day there is one filled with danger. From vigilante groups ran by the government, vigilante groups fighting against the government groups, money that is not worth the paper it is printed on, food shortages, and a thriving black market, the world that Karina Sainz Borgo describes is one that I cannot even wrap my head around. Some people might be put off by the description of how the main character, Adelaida Falcón, gets supplies for her period, or how she hears gunshots all through the night and learns that more of her neighborhood acquaintances have either disappears or been killed throughout the night, but I see this as a reality I do not understand. I see this as a novel of a person who is trying to go about her business in a turbulent climate, hiding out in her apartment, trying to stay quiet while listening to the noise on the outside, until the noise comes to find her. This novel tries to juxtapose the difference between the relative safety of Adelaida feels in the apartment and the chaos outside until the two meet and she has to make decisions that will affect her life but be instrumental to her survival. The tension of the novel picks up in the second half, and I really do feel the nerves that she is feeling. The tightness of the writing makes the urgency feel stronger, and the ending, though it seems as if she does not know how to end the novel for a few pages, does end satisfying.

I enjoyed this novel. It feels tense and dangerous. I thought the end kind of dragged a little bit, but this is the only complaint I can find. "It Would Be Night in Caracas" is otherwise one of the best books I've read this year.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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This suspenseful, literary novel follows Adelaida, whose mother has just died while Caracas devolves into chaos. Adelaida views street demonstrations while trapped in her apartment, struggles with impossible choices, and figures out how to survive. While this is fiction, it reads like a first-person memoir of life while your beloved city/homeland collapses in a thousand different ways. Riveting contemporary fiction, part of the new HarperVia (USA) imprint of literature in translation.  Author Karina Sainz Borgo grew up in Venezuela and now lives in Spain. Will appeal to book groups and readers who appreciate literature in translation, character-driven women's fiction, and novels with strong contemporary political undercurrents. Translated from the Spanish by Elizabeth Breyer. Full review to come on BookBrowse.
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I honestly don’t know how to even start to describe how this book broke me emotionally. Set in the middle of a political war in Venezuela, Adelaida Falcónjust is saying goodbye to the only family member she has known, her mother whom lost her battle to cancer. Completely broken Adelaida returns to her apartment and tapes shut her windows to prevent the tear gas raining down on protesters in the streets from seeping in. Wait, it gets worse.

Adelaida apartment is then taken over by looters masquerading as revolutionaries who beat her badly. With the strength of memory of her mother Adelaida fights to survive. Alternating between past & present Borgo makes you feel Adelaida struggles. I was on the verge of tears from page one. This book yanked my heart out of my chest! I’m telling Adelaida goes through it! The guilt of stealing food and the identity of a dead woman so she can get out of Venezuela, so many surprising twists and turns. This is a must read. 4.5/5 stars

Thank you Harpervia & NetGalley for gifting me this review copy in exchange for an honest review.
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It Would Be Night in Caracas is a timely novel, taking place in present day Venezuela, a country that has been in the news for the large number of protests going on in the country. Being a foreigner I didn’t have a deeper understanding of the conflict and why the protects were going on, but reading this book prompted me to start doing research in order to understand the context around the events of the novel. For this reason, I think that this novel was good, it helps shed light on what is going on in Venezuela politically that are lesser known to those outside of South America.

The deeply internal narrative drifts seemlessly between the present day and the past, from Adelaida’s childhood memories at the start of the Latin American debt crisis in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The debt crisis started when capitalist economies for several countries dropped when the price of oil plummeted and the national currencies inflated. She relives the Bolivarian Revolution, the way that her country evolved and changed over the years, and eventually details the horrifying events that lead up to the present day, including the student protest killings in 2014. At times the drifts back and forth in time could be a bit difficult to follow and place the time frame, it made the pacing a extremely slow.

The book does not shy away from the gritty detail of the deep corruption on all levels that presents a city that is oppressive, eating away at it’s inhabitants as they all lose a bit of their former lives bit by bit. The setting feels desolate and more like a battlefield at points, with clashes between protesters, gangs, and state police blurring the lines of who is who. The novel opens with the death of Adelaida, grieving for the death of her mother and namesake. The naming is allegorical in that it shows both the literal and proverbial death of Adelaida Falcón, a Venezuelan woman trapped in a city that is dying. Adelaida’s state of mind is somber and even monotonous as she steadily loses her grip on her life and her identity. This loss of identity and later, death of the self plays into a literal shedding of her old identity which I think in a way was smartly written, if a little heavy handed and too literal.

I appreciated the insight that this novel has into the role that one’s nationality can play into a person’s identity, and how the deterioration of society and poverty can have negative effects on a person’s mental health. I wanted to love this book for the intelligent dialogue about identity, but I found myself struggling to get through it. The story moves at a snail’s pace and is bogged down by random character’s stories in order to establish the setting or a plot device later on in the story.

The closer I got to the ending of the novel, the more bored I became with the almost ridiculous tie in of identity and death with the events in the novel, which is reiterated multiple times. I think that this story had a lot of potential and after taking some time to reflect on it, I was better able to dissect and appreciate the themes. However, the slow burning plot, drifting narrative, and bloated details made this a less enjoyable read overall. It would have been better with more concision and focus on the central ideas without getting bogged down with so many side character details that come out of nowhere.
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A brilliant read a book that brings the sadness turmoil in Venezuela and the shock horror the people of this country are suffering on a daily basis .Heart wrenching raw painful a book Characters I won’t forget.#netgalley#harpercollins
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I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Brutally raw novel about life in Venezuela and a woman struggling to make it in the midst of civil unrest.  Well written with great characters.
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When I saw this book available on Netgalley, the blurb completely drew me in. It seemed like it would educate me about a country and it's current crisis that I'm not too familiar with, even if it is fiction.
The book starts out with Adelaide dealing with a death and how even that isn't the easiest to deal with in Venezuela's current political crisis. We see what her neighborhood is going through and can easily envision it with the details given. It seems more war torn than I thought it would be and almost feels like something that would've happened during WWII in Europe. Unfortunately, some parts of the telling of the story seem a little lost. The unpredictability of when the author decides to throw in a flashback or a past event from another character didn't always flow with what was currently taking place with Adelaide and her living situation. It didn't divide up the two voices in a way that seemed seamless.
The setting of the story in Caracas, Venezuela was more exciting than the actual story itself. It seemed a bit predictable, but I felt myself wanting to more about Adelaide and what she went through to get to her current state. The fear, hunger, and hatred of the leaders led to a way of survival that not everyone wanted to live, including Adelaide.

"In this country, non one rests in peace. No one."

The book read fast, but not so much a page turner, just a quick idea of what was currently happening. This book was ok and I could see it's appeal. I would be interested to see what people of Venezuela think of it for content purposes. Overall, I am glad I got to see someone take the desperation of survival and live through something so horrendous my any means necessary. Just wish it flowed better.
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Grieving the recent loss of her mother, her only real family, Adelaida struggles to survive in a nightmarish city torn apart by rioting and upheaval. After being violently evicted from her apartment, Adelaida finds herself and those around her performing acts that would have previously been unthinkable in order to survive.
It Would Be Night in Caracas depicts a despairing, tumultuous Venezuela where the only hope is in escape.
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There is a lot of fear and heartbreak in this story.  Some of it was unsettling but the story was pretty well done. I enjoyed this book, and felt it was eye opening and full of emotions.
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This ARC was courtesy of netgalley - all thoughts and opinions are mine and unbiased

This was an intense hard read.  I found it haunting - both in the beautiful way it was written and the story and characters.  This will stay with me for some time

It has made me realise that although I know a little about the Venezuelan situation - I don't know enough - it has also left me wondering why the media have not picked up on this and given it the wider audience it surely deserves

The predicament of the characters chilled me to the bone - although it is fiction - I've no doubt that this is something that Venezuelans are experiencing in real life.

Powerful, upsetting, beautifully illustrated in the language of the author

I cannot rate this highly enough
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This is an interesting story about Adelaida and her struggle to survive after the death of her mother. Set in Caracas, Venezuela, there could not be a more depressing setting.  Once the shining jewel of South America, the death of democracy and a well run government is now in free fall.
This story is the tale of what one must do to survive.
A compelling tale at times a bit jumpy but still worth the read.
Thanks to Netgalley for the eArc for review purposes.
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This was an intense read. It made me realize how little I know about the political situation in Venezuela, and led me to some searching to better educate myself, which I always appreciate. If a book can make me want to know more about a real-life situation, I think the author has done something great.

In the midst of the chaos and upheaval in Caracas, Adelaide loses her mother, the only real family she has ever had, and returns to their apartment and the struggle to survive on her own. She is faced with some very difficult, life-alerting decisions, and the reader gets to feel her indecision and hopelessness along with her.

The writing here is very good and the translation worked well for me. The story is stark, lonely, and at times gruesome. The blurb mentions twists and turns, but it didn’t find these twists in my reading. The present day story flows along evenly, if at times it is somewhat slow, but the flashbacks were distracting and seemed to come at awkward times. I think this is ultimately what keeps the book from being a pick for me. Still, I would be interested in reading more from this author in the future.
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I was disappointed.
I hope a book will reflect what Venezuela is and is not taking advantage of the economic and social crisis to bring about an opportunistic and apocalyptic book.

Venezuela is something more complex than a war zone. Other authors think of Venezuela that will bring us to the present crisis (I recommend Eduardo Sánchez Rugeles)

Less harm than fast reading . You will be ready.
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This was not an easy book to read. It's detailed and lyrical and heartbreaking and upsetting. I cared about the characters, I was brought to tears. I was scared for the characters and sad for them and invested in the plot. I could picture the rooms and streets and felt like I was reading about real people, which made me sad. Would definitely recommend.
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This stark and chilling book brilliantly humanizes the experience of its protagonist. Going deep behind the headlines of Venezuela's violent unrest, Borgo challenges readers to empathize with a woman is trying to understand just how much she can take and how far she will go to survive. This is a powerful book that does not sugarcoat suffering or lionize its characters for enduring it. Borgo's integration of traditional canciones and poetry adds immeasurably to the texture and beauty of her writing.
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"It Would be Night in Caracas" by Karina Sainz Borgo is the story of Adelaida Falcon and her life in an unstable and dangerous Venezuela.  After burying her mother and finding her apartment overtaken by revolutionaries, Adelaida must take desperate measures to survive in a city of violence and fear.

I was a bit disappointed by this book.  Perhaps there was something lost in translation.  I think it started off well, but the majority of the plot just seemed underdeveloped and some of it dragged.  Though the author depicted many of the horrible realities in Venezuela, the characters and events didn't ever really seem to come alive to me.

As always, many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this book.
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CBB60 AC motor capacitor

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Q:What is the phase-shifting capacitor, what is the difference between it and the general capacitor
And the phase-shifting capacitor has the function of changing the phase of the alternating current signal in addition to the characteristics of the general capacitor. The answer can be compensated by the power factor compensation in parallel with the phase-shifting capacitor, and the phase-shifting capacitor can be used to produce the phase-shifting capacitor fault diagnosis device.
Q:Cd capacitance to express what
No capacitance is used in the high-frequency circuit of a capacitor, this capacitor without pins or pins shorter, commonly used in the tuner; generally PF level, the so-called "no sense" is the capacitor work is not produce "inductance" Effect, because C (capacitance) + L (inductance) = R (resistance), (when the match is good), if so, the circuit will not work.
Q:What is the relationship between capacitance and voltage?
The larger the capacity of the capacitor, the larger the voltage, the smaller the capacity (uF). Since q = Cu, q is the current charge number of the capacitor, which is substantially proportional to the volume of the capacitor
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As a passive component of the capacitor, its role is nothing more than the following; applied to the power circuit, to achieve bypass, decoupling, filtering and energy storage role, the following classification:
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You have no voltage regulator, if there is, with a voltage regulator, an ammeter a voltmeter (available multimeter instead) to the capacitor plus an integer current (controlled by a voltage regulator), and then calculate the capacitance based on the voltage reading and current reading Impedance, and then divided by 3184 calculated by the tolerance value, the results and the capacitor nameplate on the standard almost no capacitance, and the other side of the capacitor is broken
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Bluugo Changes Stage Name To ‘Flyght’

The 2018 Magnum King of the Dancehall, Bluugo, changed his stage name to ‘Flyght’.

In an interview with the Zee on Wednesday, the artiste, known as Bluugo at the time of his win, said he was continually mistaken for Jamaican artist Bugle because of the similarity of sounds.

In the mean time, he explained the inspiration for his latest single titled ‘10z’.

Flyght also said he is working on several upcoming projects to release to the public.

Flyght, who once went by the name Bluugo, was the 2018 Magnum Kings and Queens winner. Since then, he has continued his musical path producing songs such as ‘Dr. Fix it’, ‘Who frighten Dem’ and ‘Pot Cova’.


The 10th anniversary of 9/11 has come and gone. Leftist liberals everywhere all seemed determined to make the worst possible interpretations of the U.S. response since that historic day. It was a pathetic display. It's rhetoric like that which has led to my becoming an Independent. I no longer identify with Democrats. I feel pushed to the center and now see myself as a moderate centrist. I'm simply appalled at the extremes of the left, just as I am at the extremes of the right.

When we receive new information, the obvious response is to adjust, if necessary. The information can open – or close – our minds, depending on how we interpret it. An unbiased person will scrutinize the information for validity and judge it accordingly. A biased person is more likely to spin the data to suit his preexisting ideas or even reject it out of hand. Perhaps the most common cause of bias is ideology. Whether it be political, religious, cultural or whatever: ideology can act like a camera filter through which new information can be tinted or even polarized.

Ideologies are seductive. Even scientists can have their objectivity compromised by ideology. Confirmation bias is an all too human tendency that can also afflict scientists. Political, religious, philosophical and economic biases can also affect scientists (consciously or not). Within their own disciplines, reductionism, aesthetics, metaphysics and other presuppositions can skew findings or interpretations of them. Fortunately, science has the scientific method (peer review, repeatable experiments, etc.) to weed out such errors.

If even scientifically disciplined professionals are subject to ideological bias, then who is really safe from it? Would less disciplined laymen be even more prone to it? To answer my own question: Yes – judging by what I read, online, from (alleged) freethinkers in blogs and forums.

Politically, freethinkers are predominantly liberal. From what I can discern, they seem more likely than others to exhibit ideological bias because liberals are, by and large, idealists. They push for change to realize their ideals: how society should or ought to be. One important liberal ideal is equality (inclusion). It was liberals who heralded reforms to include women and minorities (religious, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, etc.) as equals. Idealism can lead to wonderful reforms but not every issue is always amenable to idealism.

If all religions, nations, people, species, lifestyles, etc., are equal and to be included, then values become, in effect, relative. Because of this tendency to ignore or deny differences, liberal thinking leads to accommodationism, multiculturalism and a bias for political underdogs (and against the prevailing powers). All too often, decisions aren’t based solely on the available information: instead, they’re filtered through the lens of liberal ideology. Instead of evaluating issues in terms of merit, the idealism of liberals leads them to evaluate issues in terms of ideals. As thus practiced, the most significant difference between merit and ideals is bias.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed more and more how liberal idealism – being liberal for liberal’s sake – causes bad decisions. It’s why I’ve moved right, to the political center. Differences must be addressed on their real merits. This doesn’t mean you forsake your ideals. It means your ideals will mislead decisions if they take precedence over the merits of political realities. You can recognize when idealism has ignored political realities by the backlash that eventually follows, such as: reverse discrimination and the end of Affirmative Action; multiculturalism and bans on burqas and mosque spires.

As a centrist, I believe there’s a time to be conservative and a time to be liberal and that these times are determined by the merits of the political realities involved. For instance: nobody wants civilian casualties in the pursuit of the war on terrorism. Should we quit the war to avoid such casualties? Of course not! If we value our way of life, there is no alternative but to deal forcefully with terrorists. We can try our utmost to avoid civilian casualties but we need to acknowledge that they will nonetheless occur. It doesn’t help that terrorists use civilians as human shields, so the fair share of blame should go to those who callously endangered the civilians in the first place. The truth is that terrorists have been known to gun down civilians who flee neighborhoods used as human shields. You can’t hide behind civilians who run away.

Everything is NOT relative. The deaths on 9/11 are distinctly different from the deaths incurred in the war on terrorism. Civilians were intentionally targeted by Al Qaeda BECAUSE they were civilians. The U.S. military and those of other countries target combatants only. Collateral damage and civilian deaths are not desirable to us. Let’s get real here. If terrorists stopped trying to destabilize governments by attacking their civilian citizens, the war on terror would be over.

The war on terror is an example of where liberal idealism is not generally a good idea and where harsh realities must be accepted. However, there are times, even in war, when liberal ideals are needed, such as in the treatment of prisoners and the methods used to interrogate them. It’s a matter of balance. Ideals and merit.

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Life Cycle Effect on Firm Capital Structure: Evidence from Jordan

Yazeid Saleh Abd Al-Lateif, Mamoun Mohd AL-Debi'e

This study aims to examine the effect of firm's life cycle on its capital structure in a sample of (56) industrial companies listed in Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) during the period (2015-2016). The study applied the Dickinson approach (2011) to determine the stages in the firm life cycle. Multiple regression analysis was used to achieve the objectives of the study and test its hypotheses. The results show that the average leverage ratio (Lev) for industrial firms is low. However, the degree of reliance on debt in the capital structure is highest in the introduction and growth stages. Furthermore, regression analysis shows a statistically significant inverse relationship between firm's life cycle stages and the degree of financial leverage in the Jordanian industrial sector, which indicates a gradual development in the explanatory variables across the stages of firm's life cycle. The pecking order theory is the most capable theory to explaining the funding behavior in Jordanian industrial firms throughout all life cycle stages except for the decline stage. Finally, the pecking order theory and trade-off theory in financial management are unable to explain the funding behavior of Jordanian industrial firms in the decline stage.

Firm life cycle, Capital structure, Pecking order theory, Trade-off theory

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Locana, a San Diego biotech that repurposed the gene-editing system CRISPR, has raised a $55 million series A round.

Its technology was developed in the lab of Eugene Yeo, a professor at UC San Diego and Locana co-founder.

Locana uses CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology to target RNA, which carries DNA instructions to cells. Previously, the technology could only be used to manipulate DNA.

The company has several preclinical programs that seek to address dysfunctional RNA processing, in an attempt to get at the root cause of genetic diseases.

Jeffrey Ostrove, who previously headed AbVitro and Ceregene, is Locana’s CEO. Its chairman is Tom Daniel, a former Celgene executive, who is also a partner at Arch Venture Partners, which led the funding round.

“The Locana team has rapidly advanced foundational science from Dr. Yeo’s lab into an impressive preclinical data set, demonstrating potential of this RNA-targeting platform to be therapeutically impactful in genetic diseases and beyond,” said Daniel in a news release.

Also participating in the financing were existing investors Temasek and Lightstone Ventures, along with new investors UCB Ventures and GV, previously called Google Ventures.

Locana’s technology was also developed by its chief technology officer David Nelles and Ranjan Batra, who is Locana’s vice president of research and development.


What is Schizophrenia?

  • Hallucinations
  • Delusions

Treatments and Therapies

Psychosocial Treatments

These treatments are helpful after patients and their doctor find a medication that works. Learning and using coping skills to address the everyday challenges of schizophrenia helps people to pursue their life goals, such as attending school or work.

Coordinated specialty care (CSC)

This treatment model integrates medication, psychosocial therapies, case management, family involvement, and supported education and employment services, all aimed at reducing symptoms and improving quality of life.


Residential Comprehensive Audit Program

What is the Residential Comprehensive Audit Program?

The Residential Comprehensive Audit Program is a home energy efficiency program that includes an initial audit, installation of energy efficiency measures and an incentive structure designed to help homeowners make energy-efficient improvements. A BPI-certified auditor will perform the audit, evaluate your home’s energy efficiency and recommend improvements that could save you energy and money.

What does it mean to be BPI-certified?

The Building Performance Institute (BPI®) is a non-profit developer of technical standards for home performance and weatherization retrofit work. BPI standards are recognized across North America as a resource for building science technology that sets standards for assessing and improving the energy performance as well as the health and safety of homes. Auditors who are BPI-certified have undergone training and testing to demonstrate the ability to do work in accordance with BPI standards.

What does the Residential Comprehensive Audit consist of?

The Residential Comprehensive Audit consists of a BPI-certified auditor working with you one-on-one to identify energy-saving improvements you can make to your home. The auditor will evaluate your home’s heating and cooling systems, insulation and windows, and will conduct a blower door test to detect air leaks that could be costing you money. During the audit, energy-saving products worth up to $200 may be installed for no fee* - if your auditor installs products that save a minimum of 350 kilowatt-hours (such as 11 LED light bulbs).

What rebates are available as part of the Residential Comprehensive Audit Program?

There are opportunities to receive a $250 instant rebate on a comprehensive energy audit and additional rebates for installing energy-saving improvements in your home with the savings you achieve - if your auditor installs products that save a minimum of 350 kilowatt-hours (such as 11 LED light bulbs).

What energy-saving products will be installed as part of the Residential Comprehensive Audit?

Energy-saving products worth up to $200 may be installed at no additional cost to you as part of the Residential Comprehensive Audit. These products are subject to change and may include LED bulbs, an LED nightlight, a smart power strip, pipe insulation, a furnace whistle, a showerhead, and kitchen and bath faucet aerators, depending on the type of water heat in the home.

How much can the energy-saving products actually save?

- LEDs use up to 90 percent less energy and can save an average of $80 in energy costs over their lifetime compared to traditional incandescent bulbs. A popular residential option, ENERGY STAR® light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, can be installed in bathrooms, permanent fixtures, ceiling fans, chandeliers and other high-usage areas.

Are LED lightbulbs safe for the environment?

How do I properly dispose of unbroken LEDs?

If a fixture uses less water, will it take longer to complete tasks?

How do energy-efficient aerators and showerheads use less energy?

Will I notice a difference in water temperature?

How much money will I save on my bill monthly?

What is the life of an LED lightbulb?

What safety precautions do I need to be aware of before my energy audit?

If there are any unsecured pets or unattended minors upon our arrival, we will not be able to enter to perform the audit or installation. During product installation, we ask that all small children be kept at a safe distance from the installers. The installers will provide further direction once on-site.

What is the next step?

Call 1-855-314-9962 or click here to schedule an appointment for an energy audit and installation of energy-saving products!


Each pilot knows that turbulence is, at times, unavoidable, and might be doubtlessly dangerous. Fog and other issues not solely made the flying tough and in the end resulted in each the NC-1 and NC-three being compelled to land in the course of the ocean, leaving the NC-4, whose problems initially of the flight had almost compelled her out of the mission, as the one one to reach the Azores by flying.flight

Spartan Airlines Ltd, United Airways Ltd, and Hillman’s Airways merged, ensuing in the formation of the new British Airways Ltd. Though different passengers have been in a position to pull her back into the plane, witnesses reported that she went into cardiac arrest.

The FAA prescribes a minimal flying time of 40 hours, however the national common is of about 70 hours in two-seat airplanes. You too can ask for advice from other Joy Flights enthusiasts and jet pilots as effectively for the most really helpful and counseled companies of such a service.flight

Whenever you seek for reward flights we’ll present you availability on British Airways first. As one of many world’s largest flight comparability websites, Cheapflights is the place to begin to your travel planning. That is how the way forward for airline journey and purchasing of airline ticket has developed, and it’s a very fascinating business.

Although altitudes are flight plan assigned, gross weight, engine thrust, and wing functionality might initially require step-climbs-that’s, progressively larger altitudes facilitated by gas-burn and weight reductions, though crews can request totally different flight levels to keep away from or minimize climate- and turbulence-caused passenger discomfort.


Four Tapas Dishes to Avoid While on a Diet

26th July 2018
Being on a diet means giving up certain food types, so it is important that you do not give into the temptation of ordering these tapas dishes. Instead opt for healthier choices.

Surely, if you have started a diet you have already had to turn down a family meal or a dinner with friends? Being on a diet should not affect your social life, you just have to know what foods you can eat and which ones to avoid. In order to help you keep to your diet, we want to provide you with four tapas dishes to avoid while on a diet.

By knowing which tapas dishes to avoid while on a diet, you can continue to enjoy your free time while you take care of yourself. Spanish cuisine has a lot of tapas, so there is a wide variety to choose healthy options from.

Tapas to avoid while on a diet

Russian Salad

The Russian salad is one of the most appetizing tapas dishes, especially in the summer. As the heat intensifies, a fresh salad can please anyone. However, if you are on a diet, you should know that it is one of the most caloric tapas. The main reason for this is the mayonnaise, so you should really leave this tapas dish aside and choose others.

russian salad recipe

Although the base of a Russian salad is vegetables, it is still not a healthy tapas dish. The large amount of mayonnaise makes it a dish with lots of calories and fat.

If you are on a diet and you want a Russian salad, here is a light version of the recipe. Making it is very simple and you can do it at home. It is a pity that tapas bars do not opt for more light versions of traditional recipes.

Stuffed Potato

Stuffed potatoes are a tapas dish that can be made in a number of different ways. All of them have a large amount of food and some sauce in common. Therefore, what begins as a healthy cooked potato, ends up being a caloric bomb.

stuffed potato

In order to prepare them, the first thing to do is to roast or cook the potato. Then, stuff it with a filling and add some sauce to make it juicier. These sauces are usually some type of bechamel, mayonnaise, or made from some type of cheese. They have a high fat content that is not recommended for individuals on a diet.

The filling is usually made from cheese, bacon, or minced meat. These fatty meats are also not recommended options if you are dieting. As you can see, stuffed potatoes should not be among your choices, if you decide to go for a tapas meal with your friends.

Roman-Style Squid

You can eat roman-style squid in a multitude of ways. One way is in a tapas dish with some lemon or sauce. It can also be enjoyed as a second course or in a sandwich. This last variation is typical in Madrid.

roman-style squid

Squid is a healthy food because it contains very few calories and a large number of properties. These special properties include vitamins A, E, C, and D, as well as iron, potassium, and phosphorus. The problem is that when people prepare them, they typically put them in the fryer. With this simple act, a great food becomes one of the tapas dishes to avoid while on a diet.

In addition, squid is usually accompanied by some type of sauce, such as mayonnaise. This makes it an even less healthy option, since mayonnaise is not healthy at all.

Empanadillas are a typical food in tapas bars, as well as in each and every Spanish house. Their main component is dough with a base of water, salt, olive oil, and flour. As for the filling, there are plenty of options: meat, fish, vegetables etc. The empanadilla is closed and sealed with the help of a fork. Then, it is fried in order to make it crispy.

Being a fried food, empanadillas are not particularly appropriate for dieting. The dough absorbs a large amount of oil and that makes them an unhealthy food. Although this traditional food is becoming increasingly common to prepare in the oven. This is an equally tasty but less crunchy option. In this case, you can absolutely enjoy some empanadillas.


May 11, 2017

Conventional TV watching has seen immense changes in recent years, largely due to internet’s mobility. But one thing is for sure: TV shows easily remain as most people’s fixation.

I once encountered someone who claimed he “didn’t watch TV,” which I found weird. Even as an adult, I haven’t quite relinquished my own TV obsession. In fact, I rely on it for when reality becomes too stifling. The variety of local and international shows available also makes it even harder to switch off.

And it’s not a completely bad thing. Recent studies show that you can reap health benefits from watching TV. Dubbed by psychologists as a parasocial relationship, this one-sided interaction is often projected towards celebrities or fictional characters, with the receiving party completely oblivious of the giver’s existence.

This can stem from a variety of reasons, with loneliness as the most common one. Leon Festinger’s social comparison theory says we watch TV shows to make us feel better about ourselves. The short-lived euphoria can be sparked even within just a 30-minute timeframe. Case in point: the entertaining absurdity in every Keeping Up with the Kardashians episode. Doesn’t being a mere spectator in an unfolding drama make you feel good? You get to be around the fire without being scorched.

TV shows also create a kind of intimacy where we identify with a character and develop some sort of one-sided bond with them. This significantly alleviates loneliness and nurtures a sense of belongingness.

Jennifer Barnes, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Oklahoma, says this simulated intimacy likewise bears real-world benefits, such as having improved self-esteem.

Festinger’s theory works both ways, however, and there are times when watching television can leave us feeling worse, such as when a favorite character gets killed or, ultimately, when the show itself ends. In some instances, this sense of forlorn can be beneficial. This is what philosophers have referred to as the paradox of tragedy, wherein unfortunate events tend to comfort us.

It’s still unclear why we are able to find pleasure even in times of pain, but using TV shows as catharsis for negative emotions can be liberating. “Although we’re feeling sadness, the meta-emotion we’re feeling might be something like gratitude that we can feel this wide range of emotional experiences,” Barnes says in an interview with Time. “We might actually feel glad that we can be empathetic and feel things like this on behalf of someone else, even if they’re not real.”

But while compassion and empathy are good traits to develop, just a word of caution: do not be overly attached to works of fiction, especially when you’re suffering from an underlying case of depression.

Occasional binge-watching is good, but just like everything else in this world, do it in moderation.

This story was originally published in Northern Living, May 2017.

TAGS: binge watching hobbies nolisoliph psychology television TV tv watching


Winners Announced for the 2019 Best of FinXTech Awards

Awards-9-10-19.pngBanks face a fundamental paradox: They need to adopt increasingly sophisticated technology to stay competitive, but most have neither the budget nor the risk appetite to develop the technology themselves.

To help banks address this challenge, a legion of fintech companies have sprung up in the past decade. The best of these are solving common problems faced by financial institutions today, from improving the customer experience, growing loans, serving small business customers and protecting against cybersecurity threats.

To this end, we at Bank Director and FinXTech have spent the past few months analyzing the most innovative solutions deployed by banks today. We evaluated the performance results and feedback from banks about their work with fintech companies, as well as the opinions of a panel of industry experts. These fintechs had already been vetted further for inclusion in our FinXTech Connect platform. We sought to identify technology companies that are tried and true — those that have successfully cultivated relationships with banks and delivered value to their clients.

Then, we highlighted those companies at this year’s Experience FinXTech event, co-hosted by Bank Director and FinXTech this week at the JW Marriott in Chicago.

At our awards luncheon on Tuesday, we announced the winning technology solutions in six categories that cover a spectrum of important challenges faced by banks today: customer experience, revenue growth, loan growth, operations, small business solutions and security.

We also announced the Best of FinXTech Connect award, a technology-agnostic category that recognizes technology firms that work closely with bank clients to co-create or customize a solution, or demonstrated consistent collaboration with financial institutions.

The winners in each category are below:

Best Solution for Customer Experience: Apiture

Apiture uses application programming interfaces (APIs) to upgrade a bank’s digital banking experience. Its platform includes digital account opening, personal financial management, cash flow management for businesses and payments services. Each feature can be unbundled from the platform.

Best Solution for Revenue Growth: Mantl

MANTL developed an account-opening tool that works with a bank’s existing core infrastructure. Its Core Wrapper API reads and writes directly to the core, allowing banks to set up, configure and maintain the account-opening product

Best Solution for Loan Growth: ProPair

ProPair helps banks pair the right loan officer with the right lead. It integrates with a bank’s systems to analyze the bank’s data for insights into behaviors, patterns and lender performance to predict which officer should be connected with a particular client.

Best Small Business Solution: P2BInvestor

P2Binvestor provides an asset-based lending solution for banks that helps them monitor risk, track collateral and administer loans. It partners with banks to give them a pipeline of qualified borrowers.

Best Solution for Improving Operations: Sandbox Banking

Sandbox Banking builds custom APIs that communicate between a bank’s legacy core systems like core processors, loan origination, customer relationship management software and data warehouses. It also builds APIs that integrate new products and automate data flow.

Best Solution for Protecting the Bank: Illusive Networks

Illusive Networks uses an approach called “endpoint-focused deception” to detect breaches into a bank’s IT system. It plants false information across a bank’s network endpoints, detects when an attacker acts on the information and captures forensics from the compromised machine. It also detects unnecessary files that could serve as tools for hackers.

Best of FinXTech Connect: Sandbox Banking

The middleware platform, which also won the “Best Solution for Improving Operations” category, was also noted for working hand-in-hand with bank staff to create custom API connections to solve specific bank issues. In addition, banks can access three-hour blocks of developer time each month to work on special projects outside of regular technical support.

How Banks Can Use the Dark Web to Shed Light on Cybersecurity

cybersecurity-9-5-19.pngCyberthreat intelligence, or CTI, can give bankers a deeper understanding of the potential threats that face their business.

Whether it is knowing your enemy or learning about the latest malware, CTI provides information that can help executives make prudent, risk-based decisions. This information comes from the open internet as well as closed sources, including the darknet and dark web. Analyzing this CTI can produce insights and identify signs of a potential breach, leaked data or pending attacks.

The darknet is the part of the internet that is not accessible through conventional browsers and requires specific software or configurations; the deep web is the part of the internet that is not accessible through search engines. Some nation states, cybercriminal gangs and threat actors thrive in this underground economy through illegal activity that includes the sale of personal information, financial goods and illicit services. For bank’s CTI, the deep web and darknet are a treasure trove of breached information and threat indicators.

A vast majority of these cyberthreat intelligence sources contain goods and sensitive data stolen from the financial services industry. Potential financial gain drives bad actors to maintain a thriving marketplace built on illicit items, including debit and credit card numbers, identity theft services and banking malware.

While no tool or service can completely eliminate the risk of a data breach, integrating CTI into a bank’s cybersecurity program can make it more difficult to target and lower the likelihood of a breach. To get value from CTI, a bank can:

  • Identify the threat actors that are leveraging potential vulnerabilities in systems used by the financial sector;
  • Understand whether a particular organization or client is being targeted directly;
  • Detect active malware campaigns that could target the bank;
  • Learn where its customer and employee information may exist;
  • Find breached credit or debit cards on deep web or darknet marketplaces; and
  • Understand emerging trends regarding data theft.

There are a variety of ways that financial institutions can leverage, and directly benefit from, CTI. Some examples include:

  • Incorporating technical indicators of compromise into the company’s security information and event management system;
  • Briefing high-level executives on industry trends and providing intelligence on potential future attacks;
  • Providing intelligence briefings to security operation centers (SOCs), increasing the situational awareness of technical campaigns and bad actors;
  • Developing incident response scenarios;
  • Achieving timely integration with fraud teams to deactivate stolen credit or debit cards;
  • Working with law enforcement to remove stolen credit, debit or other financial information from the deep or dark web;
  • Segregating and limiting internal access to systems if an individual’s credentials are exposed;
  • Communicating with social media and marketing teams about exposed data; and
  • Implementing patches for known vulnerabilities that are discovered on external-facing systems and applications.

What does a successful CTI program look like at financial institutions?
Deep analytical CTI is usually not possible at small- to medium-sized financial institutions using the internal resources of their existing security teams, and is often outsourced to a vendor or third party. Outsourcing can provide some value-added actions, such as:

  • Identifying breached credit and debit cards or other financial information;
  • Monitoring chatter about C-suite executives;
  • Assisting in fraud prevention through credential theft;
  • Thwarting attacks planned by adversaries that uses new financial theft malware, ransomware or Trojans;
  • Examining reputational damage or brand-related chatter for an organization;
  • Identifying large credential data dumps or breaches;
  • Identifying or ascertaining stolen or fraudulent goods like blueprints, skimmers and physical devices, or sensitive data such as tax forms, personally identifiable information and protected health information.

CTI can provide a variety of actionable information that executives can use to make better cybersecurity decisions and assess their risk appetite. With CTI, bankers can prioritize initiatives, address budgets and create business strategies for securing customer, employee and client data. A deeper understanding of the threats they face gives companies a firmer grasp of the tumultuous cyber landscape and a clearer vision of how to prevent problems.

The Strategic Side of Cybersecurity Governance

cybersecurity-8-7-19.pngWithout a comprehensive cyber risk governance strategy, banks risk playing Whac-A-Mole with their cybersecurity.

Most financial institutions’ cybersecurity programs are tactical or project-oriented, addressing one-off situations and putting out fires as they arise. This piecemeal approach to cybersecurity is inefficient and increasingly risky, given the growing number of new compliance requirements and privacy and security laws. Institutions are recognizing that everyone in the C-suite should be thinking about the need for a cyber risk governance strategy.

There are three key advantages to having a cyber risk governance strategy:

  • Effectively managing the audit and security budget: Organizations that address current risks can more effectively prepare for cybersecurity threats, while meeting and achieving consistent audit results. A thorough risk assessment can highlight real threats and identify controls to evaluate on an ongoing basis through regular review or testing.
  • Reducing legal exposure: Companies and their officers can reduce the potential for civil and criminal liability by getting in front of cybersecurity and demonstrating how the institution is managing its risk effectively.
  • Getting in front of cybersecurity at an organizational level: Strategic planning is an important shift of responsibility for management teams. It proactively undertakes initiatives because it’s the right thing to do, versus an auditor instructing a company to do them.

So what’s required to set up a cyber risk governance strategy? Most organizations have talented individuals, but not necessarily personnel that is focused on security. Compounding the industry shortage of cybersecurity professionals, banks may also lack the resources necessary to do a risk assessment and ensure security practices are aligned to the cyber risk governance. As a result, banks frequently bring in vendors to help. If that’s the case, they should undertake a cyber risk strategy assessment with the help of their vendor.

Bank boards can perform a cyber risk governance strategy assessment in three phases:

  1. An assessment of the current cyber risk governance strategy. In phase one, a vendor’s team will review a bank’s current organizational and governance structure for managing information security risk. They’ll also review the information technology strategic plan and cybersecurity program to understand how the bank implements information security policies, standards and procedures. This provides a baseline of the people and processes surrounding the organization’s cyber risk governance and information security risk tolerance.
  2. Understand the institution’s cyber risk footprint. Here, a vendor will review the technology footprint of customers, employees and vendors. They’ll look at internal and external data sources, the egress and ingress flow of data, the data flow mapping, the technology supporting data transport and the technology used for servicing clients, employees, and the third parties who support strategic initiatives.
  3. Align information security resources to cyber governance goals. In phase three, a vendor will help the bank’s board and executives understand how its people, process and technology are aligned to achieve the company’s institution’s cyber governance goals. They’ll review the bank’s core operations and document the roles, processes and technology surrounding information security. They’ll also review the alignment of operational activities that support the bank’s information security strategic goals, and document effective and ineffective operational activities supporting the board’s cyber governance goals.

Once the assessment is complete, a bank will have the foundation needed to follow up with an operational analysis, tactical plan and strategic roadmap. With the roadmap in place, a bank can craft a cyber risk strategy that aligns with its policies, as well as an information security program that addresses the actual risks that the organization faces. Instead of just checking the boxes of required audits, bank boards can approach the assessments strategically, dictating the schedule while feeling confident that its cyber risks are being addressed.

How CECL Impacts Acquisitive Banks

CECL-7-30-19.pngBank buyers preparing to review a potential transaction or close a purchase may encounter unexpected challenges.

For public and private financial institutions, the impending accounting standard called the current expected credit loss or CECL will change how they will account for acquired receivables. It is imperative that buyers use careful planning and consideration to avoid CECL headaches.

Moving to CECL will change the name and definitions for acquired loans. The existing accounting guidance classifies loans into two categories: purchased-credit impaired (PCI) loans and purchased performing loans. Under CECL, the categories will change to purchased credit deteriorated (PCD) loans and non-PCD loans.

PCI loans are loans that have experienced deterioration in credit quality after origination. It is probable that the acquiring institution will be unable to collect all the contractually obligated payments from the borrower for these loans. In comparison, PCD loans are purchased financial assets that have experienced a more-than-insignificant amount of credit deterioration since origination. CECL will give financial institutions broader latitude for considering which of their acquired loans have impairments.

Under existing guidance for PCI loans, management teams must establish what contractual cash flows they expect to receive, as well as the cash flows they do not expect to receive. The yield on these loans can change with expected cash flows assessments following the close of a deal. In contrast, changes in the expected credit losses on PCD loans will impact provisions for loan losses following a deal, similar to changes in expectations on originated loans.

CECL will significantly change how banks treat existing purchased performing loans. Right now, accounting for purchased performing loans is straightforward: banks record loans at fair value, with no allowance recorded on Day One.

Under CECL, acquired assets that have only insignificant credit deterioration (non-PCD loans) will be treated similarly to originated assets. This requires a bank to record an allowance at acquisition, with an offset to the income statement.

The key difference with the CECL standard for these loans is that it is not appropriate for a financial institution to offset the need for an allowance with a purchase discount that is accreted into income. To take it a step further: a bank will need to record an appropriate allowance for all purchased performing loans from past mergers and acquisitions that it has on the balance sheet, even if the remaining purchase discounts resulted in no allowance under today’s standards.

Management teams should understand how CECL impacts accounting for acquired loans as they model potential transactions. The most substantial change relates to how banks account for acquired non-PCD loans. These loans first need to be adjusted to fair value under the requirements of accounting standards codification 805, Business Combinations, and then require a Day One reserve as discussed above. This new accounting could further dilute capital during an acquisition and increase the amount of time it takes a bank to earn back its tangible book value.

Banks should work with their advisors to model the impact of these changes and consider whether they should adjust pricing or deal structure in response. Executives who are considering transactions that will close near their bank’s CECL adoption date not only will need to model the impact on the acquired loans but also the impact on their own loan portfolio. This preparation is imperative, so they can accurately estimate the impact on regulatory capital.

A Top-Performing Bank Explains Why It Sponsors Three NFL Teams

Best-Performing Stadium Sponsorships

Sponsoring a local sports team is an effective way to resonate with a community.

It’s something M&T Bank Corp. takes so seriously that it sponsors three NFL teams: the Buffalo Bills, in the bank’s hometown of Buffalo, New York; the New York Jets, who play out of Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and the Baltimore Ravens.

Since 2003, the $121.6 billion asset bank has held naming rights for the Ravens’ home field, M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. It’s a relationship the bank extended in 2014, for a cool $60 million, keeping M&T’s logo on the stadium until 2027.

“We are embedded in the communities where we live and work, [and] we understand that those teams are important to their communities, including our employees, customers and prospects,” says Betsey Locke, senior vice president of brand, advertising and sponsorships at M&T.

Back in 2003, M&T was relatively unknown in the Baltimore market, she says. Holding the naming rights for the Ravens’ stadium “gave us immediate credibility. We’re now perceived as a hometown bank.”

Placing a bank’s logo on a local stadium and aligning the brand with a well-loved team can make an impact; that’s what drives even efficiency-conscious companies like M&T to spend millions on these sponsorships. It’s a unique relationship that Bank Director sought to understand by looking at the recent records of major sports teams.

In addition to win/loss records, the ranking accounts for the popularity of the sport, based on survey data from Gallup.

“Football remains the biggest and most popular sport,” says Locke. “The NFL draws the largest, strongest partnership ROI and the greatest fan affinity.”

Sponsoring sports teams is a tactic embraced by banks nationwide. There are more than 250 minor league baseball teams in the U.S., for example, and naming-rights sponsorships with these teams include big regional banks like Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bancorp (the $168.8 billion asset company sponsors the Toledo Mud Hens) as well as smaller banks like $9.6 billion asset NBT Bancorp, in Norwich, New York, which sponsors the Syracuse Mets.

College teams offer another popular option. Through its Centennial Bank brand, Home Bancshares, based in Conway, Arkansas, has naming rights on the stadium that’s home to Arkansas State University’s Red Wolves football team – John Allison, the chairman of the $15.3 billion asset company, is an alumnus of the school.

M&T gets hundreds of sponsorship requests from sports teams to arts and cultural activities, says Locke. Her team uses a scorecard to conduct an initial review and determine whether a request meets the minimum requirements for M&T to seriously consider it. They look at things like alignment with the bank’s target audience, whether the opportunity will effectively promote M&T’s brand and differentiate the company in the marketplace, and if the bank will be able to promote its products and services to new audiences. Requests that pass this initial review are then handed off to a committee that meets quarterly to decide which requests to ultimately pursue.

Sponsoring the Ravens is a good fit, says Locke, because M&T doesn’t just cut a check. “We do community efforts together,” she says. For example, 150 employees from both organizations worked together to rehab a Boys & Girls Club of America in Baltimore earlier this year. Showing that both organizations are “deeply embedded in the community” is an important piece of the partnership, says Locke.

For the Ravens and other partners, M&T tracks the return on its investment through a number of key metrics, including impressions and engagement on traditional and social media. The bank also offers branded checking accounts for fans of the Ravens, Jets and Bills. These affinity accounts are promoted alongside the sponsorship, and M&T tracks their growth as part of the checking portfolio.

Fans’ love of the game goes beyond the numbers. A team’s record doesn’t account for its history, and teams that perform well one year can break fans’ hearts the next.

Locke says M&T is with fans through the good times and the bad. “Fans are deeply engaged and support [their] teams year-round,” she says. And football promotes values that M&T wants to align itself with. “[It’s] about teamwork, love for the sport, love for the community,” she says.

Best-Performing Stadium Sponsorships

Rank Sponsoring Bank Team League Win/Loss Record Score*
#1 M&T Bank Corp. Baltimore Ravens NFL 62.5% 1.2
#2 Wells Fargo & Co. Philadelphia 76ers NBA 62.2% 1.8
#3 TD Bank Boston Celtics NBA 59.8% 2.8
#4 U.S. Bancorp Minnesota Vikings NFL 53.1% 5.0
#5 Barclays New York Islanders NHL 58.5% 5.6
#5 Capital One Financial Corp. Washington Capitals NHL 58.5% 5.6
#7 PNC Financial Services Group Carolina Hurricanes NHL 56.1% 6.4
#8 SunTrust Banks Atlanta Braves MLB 55.6% 7.2
#9 Citizens Financial Group Philadelphia Phillies MLB 49.4% 7.8
#10 Bank of America Corp. Carolina Panthers NFL 43.8% 8.6

Source: Source: Gallup, NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS
*The score is based on the popularity of the sport as well as the win/loss records for each team. Where the bank sponsors an arena that hosts two sports teams, the best-performing team appears in the ranking.

CECL Delayed for Small Banks

CECL-7-18-19.pngSmall banks hoping for a delay in the new loan loss accounting standard could get their wish, following a change in how the accounting board sets the effective dates for new standards.

On July 17, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) proposed pushing back the effective date of major accounting changes like revenue recognition, leases and — key to financial institutions — the current expected credit loss model (CECL). The board hopes the additional time will offer relief to smaller companies with fewer resources and provide more space to learn from the implementation efforts of larger peers. Under the proposal, community banks and credit unions now have a new effective date of Jan. 1, 2023, to implement CECL.

The board’s proposal also provided relief for a new category they call “small reporting companies,” and thus simplified the three-tiered effective dates into two groups. The proposal retains the 2020 effective date for companies that file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that are not otherwise classified as a small reporting companies.

CECL will force banks to set aside lifetime loss reserves at loan origination, rather than when a loss becomes probable. The standard has been hotly contested in the industry since its 2016 passage, and banking groups and members of Congress had unsuccessfully sought a delay in the intervening years.

But on Wednesday, some finally got what they were looking for. The proposed CECL delay for many banks comes as FASB grapples with how it sets the effective dates for different standards, said board member Susan Cosper in an interview conducted prior to the July 17 meeting.

In the past, FASB would pass a new accounting standard and set an effective date for SEC filers and public business entities in one year, then give private companies and nonprofit organizations an extra year to comply. The gap in dates recognizes the resource constraints those firms may face as well as the demand for outside services, and provide time for smaller companies to learn from the implementation lessons of large companies. However, the board’s advisory councils said this may not be enough time.

“What we’ve learned … is that the smaller companies wait longer to actually start the adoption process,” Cosper says. “There are many community banks that haven’t even begun the process of thinking about what they need to do to apply the credit loss standard.”

The extra time should allow these companies the ability to digest and implement the credit loss overhaul using existing resources. During the meeting, FASB member R. Harold Schroeder said that bankers tell him they could quickly apply the CECL standard in a “compliance approach” as a “box-checking exercise” for their banks. But, they tell him, they need more time if they want to implement CECL in a way that allows them to use it to make business decisions.

“The companies I talked to are taking these standards seriously as an opportunity to improve; ‘We want the data to flow through our systems, but it takes more time,’” he said.

The board also adopted an SEC filer category, called “small reporting companies” or SRCs. The SEC defines a small reporting company as a firm with a public float of less than $250 million, or has annual revenues of less than $100 million and no annual float or a public float of less than $700 million. For CECL, SRCs have the same implementation deadline as their private and not-for-profit peers. Companies with a 2023 effective date have the option of adopting the standard early.

The proposal to extend the CECL effective dates for small companies received unanimous support from the board. The proposal now goes out for public comment.

“The process of gathering, cleaning and validating [loan loss] data has taken longer than we expected,” says Mike Lundberg, national director of financial institutions services at accounting firm RSM US. “Having a little more time[for banks] to run parallel paths or fine-tune their models is really, really helpful.”

Lundberg points out that small banks will now have nearly six years to implement the standard, which passed in 2016. He also warns against bankers’ complacency.

“[The implementation] will take a long time and is a big project,” he says. “It’s definitely a ‘Don’t take the foot off the gas’ situation. This is the time to get it right.”

FASB also offered additional assistance to financial institutions with a newly published Q&A document around the “reasonable and supportable” forecast, and announced a multi-city roadshow to meet with small practitioners and bankers. Cosper says the Q&A looks to narrow the work banks need to do in order to create a forecast and includes additional forward-looking metrics banks can consider.

“I think that people really get nervous with the word ‘forecast,’” she says. “What we tried to clarify in the Q&A is that it’s really just an estimate, and it goes on to describe what that estimate should include.”

Why It’s Hard for Banks to Get Answers From Their Systems

core-7-17-19.pngIt starts with a simple question from a director or regulator about the bank’s loans, deposits or customers. It should be easy to answer but for some reason, it takes days or weeks to get the information.

The struggle of bank executives to pull answers from their core systems has been on my mind lately, so I asked a few how often they encounter this problem:

“Just recently, our examiners asked for a detailed listing showing applicable data around brokered, listing service and money desk deposits. I needed a way to get the answers quickly.” – Chief operating officer at a Texas bank, $4 billion in assets

“It’s definitely a pain point for us. We spend so much time assembling data to get basic intelligence about our business activities; those delays add up in terms of delayed decision making. We want to make faster, more informed decisions.” – CEO at a Missouri bank, $2 billion in assets

It has always been surprising to me that it is so difficult for executives to answer basic questions using their systems. The process to extract this information is often manual and painfully slow, involving subordinates who push down the request to their subordinates, and the manual aggregation of data from various systems and even paper files. The actual question can take days or weeks to get answered.

In our experience, bankers are hampered by three big problems. Here’s what they can do about them.

Systems Designed for Processing Only
Banks in the U.S. live and die with their core, but these systems were designed for processing, not reporting. While the core vendors often supply reporting and business intelligence tools, they may not include or store information from other systems or providers. Ease of use can also be a problem; many systems require someone with technical know-how to coax out the answers so they can be manually merged with results from other systems. To fix this, banks should consider implementing a simple enterprise reporting solution that consolidates information from multiple systems, including the core.

Disparate Systems Can’t Communicate
During a recent conversion, one of our clients discovered 72 different systems that were connected to their legacy core system. These systems were not well integrated or configured so executives could poll them for an answer. Banks often accumulate these systems as individual departments select solutions that fit their specific needs, such as loan review, credit administration or lending. But this creates massive information redundancy, which flourishes because no one is charged with addressing this holistically.

To help remedy this problem, banks should consider hiring a solution architect to analyze their existing systems for redundancies, and then craft a roadmap for eliminating and consolidating systems. A smart workaround at banks where a full-time systems architect may not be practical would be to select and implement a system that has built-in best practices. These systems can’t eliminate all the redundancies but can address them by integrating different systems and clearly identifying the systems of record for critical business information.

Failed System Implementations
Vendors are good at selling software with slick demonstrations that seem easy to use. But many bankers have experienced failed implementations, which can happen when vendors are more focused on setup and configuration and less on the adoption process. Vendors need to serve as true partners for clients, guiding them through the mine fields and providing solutions when issues arise.

That puts the onus on bank executives when it comes to vendor selection. Bankers need to consider a vendor’s willingness and ability to be a true consulting partner, and how it will work to understand a bank’s business and incorporate its unique needs into their system.

Implementing a solution that can seamlessly generate answers to bankers’ questions can be a sizable undertaking, but banks can make vast improvements by implementing a consolidated reporting solution, eliminating redundancies across systems and selecting vendors that are known for their ability to partner with clients.

How Innovative Banks Are Reimagining the Core

core-7-10-19.pngNew developments in technology have heightened bank customers’ expectations of speed, service and customization from their financial institutions—and cores are struggling to keep up.

Consumer expectations for banks are so high that it’s difficult—if not impossible—to meet them using existing core banking systems. Luckily, the landscape of core providers is growing rapidly too, and some banks are already taking the plunge.

The “Big Three” core providers as they’re known in the industry—Fiserv, Jack Henry & Associates and Fidelity National Information Services—serve just over 71 percent of U.S. banks according to data company FedFis. They’re criticized for providing poor service and lagging significantly behind smaller, more nimble fintechs when it comes to innovation. And their recent acquisition streaks have bank clients worried that it could erode service levels, reduce choice and increase cost.

James “Chip” Mahan III, chairman and CEO of Live Oak Bancshares, described the situation aptly: “It just seemed like every time we wanted to do something, it’s impossible. It’s ‘stand in line and write a big check.’ And it’s really, fundamentally, putting lipstick on a pig.”

That’s why the bank, based in Wilmington, North Carolina, invested in an emerging competitor—Finxact—and courted creators and industry veterans Frank and Michael Sanchez out of semi-retirement to take on the challenge of reinventing the core.

Finxact is an inventory management system that’s been architected from scratch on Amazon Web Services. Finxact and other alternative core providers offer three key features that banks should demand from a 21st century core processor.

Open Architecture
Nearly every core has some type of application programming interface (API) that allows its technology to connect to third-party applications, though the availability of those APIs is still tightly controlled in legacy systems.

Most challenger cores embrace open architecture—a quality that stands in stark contrast to the situation with incumbent cores. Deland, Florida based Surety Bank wasn’t able to negotiate with its legacy provider to use a third-party remote deposit capture solution.

CEO Ryan James says that was “a deal killer” because the bank does a large volume of deposits with that provider, had tailored it to their needs and had undergone examinations with it as well.

“It just was absurd that [our legacy core] didn’t even want to take that file, because they were greedy. They wanted to charge the [remote deposit] rates on that even though they couldn’t do what we needed,” he says. “That was an eye opener.”

Surety Bank eventually chose to undergo a full core conversion. It only took four months for the bank to launch on a cloud-based system from NYMBUS at the beginning of 2018.

Cloud Native
In addition to featuring open architecture, many challenger cores are cloud native. Although most legacy cores have some ability to run some of their system within a cloud environment, truly cloud-native companies offer banks greater advantages.

“There are different services that the cloud provides that will enable you to scale without drastically increasing your costs,” says Eugene Danilkis, co-founder and CEO of Berlin-based core technology provider Mambu. “That allow [cores] to have the best practices in terms of security, in terms of disaster recovery and also the sort of operations you can support.”

One of the operational advantages a cloud-native system provides is the ability to deploy updates within a day or two, Danilkis says.

Being cloud native is synonymous with scalability; a system can handle one hundred accounts as easily as it can handle one hundred thousand. This significant benefit means core providers don’t need to charge banks for each new account or service they add, and often use software-as-a-service models or other simple, transparent pricing schemes.

Perhaps the most important hallmark of a modern core system is configurability. Modern cores give banks the ability to create their own ecosystems, workflows and bespoke financial products that differentiate them from competitors.

Banks on a core like Finxact could build a new type of savings account that automatically raises its interest rate when the balance reaches a certain level. In contrast, legacy cores only offer out-of-the-box products that can be tweaked to meet a bank’s risk appetite or other basic requirements, without changing the product.

Changing the Game
Modern core processors approach banking technology in radically different ways from legacy core providers. They’ve built new systems from scratch, instead of bolting on acquired products. They run in realtime instead of overnight batches. They look and feel like websites instead of flat green screens. They’re open, cloud-native and highly configurable—and they’re finally coming into their own. Innovative banks should explore these options now so that they can leapfrog their peers in the near future.

Potential Technology Partners

Currently in limited use at Live Oak Bancshares and engaged in discussions with several other U.S. banks.

The SmartCore platform is powering at least one community bank, and its SmartLaunch product uses SmartCore to support digital-only brands for additional institutions.

The Infosys Finacle core is used in over 100 countries and made waves in the U.S. when Discover Financial Services left Fiserv to use this core for its direct banking business in late 2014.

Smiley Technologies

The SIBanking platform is currently in use in several U.S. banks with assets up to $1.3 billion.

Thought Machine

This London-based company wrote its cloud-native Vault core from scratch. The company states that it has clients in the U.S., but is unable to identify them publicly.

Mambu has bank clients in 15 countries. In the U.S., current clients include non-bank lenders, and the company is planning to use its latest funding round, in part, to grow its footprint in the U.S.

The founder of NYMBUS just joined this operation to help the company expand into the U.S. They currently serve 15 banks primarily in Europe and Asia.

Sink or Swim in the Data Deep End

data-7-1-19.pngCommunity banks risk allowing big banks an opportunity to widen the competitive gap by not investing in their own data management.

It’s now-or-never for community banks, and a competitive edge could be the key to their survival. A financial institution’s lifeblood is its data and banks can access a veritable treasure trove of information. But data analytics poses a significant challenge to the future success of community banks. Banks should focus on the value, not volume, of their information when adopting an actionable, data-driven approach to decision-making. While many community banks acknowledge how critical data analytics are to their future success, most remain uncommitted.

This comes as the multi-national institutions expand their data science teams exponentially, create chatbots for their websites, use artificial intelligence to customize user interactions and apply machine learning to complete back-office tasks more efficiently. The advantage that a regional bank manager has when working next door to a community bank is growing too large. And the argument that the human touch and customer experience of a community bank will make up for the technological gap has become less convincing as younger customers forgo the branch in favor of their phone.

Small and medium institutions are dealing with a number of obstacles, including compressed margins and a shortage of talent, in an attempt to move past basic data analytics and canned ad hoc reports. If an institution can find a qualified candidate to lead their data management project, the candidate usually lacks banking experience and tends to have a science and mathematics backgrounds. A real concern for bankers is the hiring managers’ ability to ask the right questions and fully discern candidates’ qualifications. And once hired, is there a qualified leader to drive projects and their results?

Despite these obstacles, banks have only one option: Jump into the data deep end, head first. To compete in this data-driven world, community banks must deploy advanced data analytics capabilities to maximize the value of information. More insight can mean better decisions, better service to customers and a better bottom line for banks. The only question is how community banks can make up their lost ground.

The first step in building your organization’s data analytic proficiency is planning. It is crucial to understand your current processes and outputs, as well as your current staff’s capabilities, in order to improve your analysis. Once you know your bank’s capabilities, you can determine your goal posts.

A decision you will need to make during this planning stage will be the efficacy of building out staff to meet the project goals, or outsourcing the efforts to a consultant group or third-party software. A community bank’s ability to attract, manage and retain data specialist could be an obstacle. Data specialists tasked with managing more-complex diagnostic and predictive analytics should be part of the executive team, to give them a complete understanding of the institution’s strategic position and the current operating environment.

Another option community banks have is to buy third-party software to supplement current resources and capabilities. Software can allow a bank to limit the staffing resources required to meet their data analytical goals. But bankers need to understand the challenges.

A third-party provider needs to understand your organization and its strategic goals to tailor a solution that fits your circumstances and environment. Management should also weigh potential trade-offs between complexity and accessibility. More-complex software may require additional resources and staff to deploy and fully use it. And an institution shouldn’t solely rely on any third-party software in lieu of internal champions and subject-matter experts needed to fully use the solutions.

Whatever the approach, community bank executives can no longer remain on the sidelines. As the volume, velocity and variety of data grows daily, the tools needed to manage and master the data require more time and investment. Proper planning can help executives move their organizations forward, so they can better utilize the vast amount of data available to them.

Five Reasons Behind Mortgage Subservicing’s Continued Popularity

mortgage-6-3-19.pngMortgage subservicing has made significant in-roads among banks, as more institutions decide to outsource the function to strategic partners.

In 1990, virtually no financial institution outsourced their residential mortgage servicing.

By the end of 2018, the Federal Reserve said that $2.47 trillion of the $10.337 trillion, or 24%, of mortgage loans and mortgage servicing rights were subserviced. Less than three decades have passed, but the work required to service a mortgage effectively has completely changed. Five trends have been at work pushing an increasing number of banks to shift to a strategic partner for mortgage subservicing.

  1. Gain strategic flexibility. Servicing operations carry high fixed costs that are cannot adapt quickly when market conditions change. Partnering with a subservicer allows lenders to scale their mortgage portfolio, expand their geographies, add product types and sell to multiple investors as needed. A partnership gives bank management teams the ability to react faster to changing conditions and manage their operations more strategically.
  2. Prioritizes strong compliance. The increasing complexity of the regulatory environment puts tremendous strain on management and servicing teams. This can mean that mortgage businesses are sometimes unable to make strategic adjustments because the bank lacks the regulatory expertise needed. But subservicers can leverage their scale to hire the necessary talent to ensure compliance with all federal, state, municipal and government sponsored entity and agency requirements.
  3. Increased efficiency, yielding better results with better data. Mortgage servicing is a data-intensive endeavor, with information often residing in outdated and siloed systems. Mortgage subservicers can provide a bank management team with all the information they would need to operate their business as effectively and efficiently as possible.
  4. Give borrowers the experience they want. Today’s borrowers expect their mortgage lender to offer comparable experiences across digital channels like mobile, web, virtual and video. But it often does not make sense for banks to build these mortgage-specific technologies themselves, given high costs, a lack of expertise and gaps in standard core banking platforms for specific mortgage functions. Partnering with a mortgage subservicer allows banks to offer modern and relevant digital servicing applications.
  5. Reduced cost. Calculating the cost to service a loan can be a challenging undertaking for a bank due to multiple business units sharing services, misallocated overhead charges and hybrid roles in many servicing operations. These costs can be difficult to calculate, and the expense varies widely based on the type of loans, size of portfolio and the credit quality. A subservicer can help solidify a predictable expense for a bank that is generally more cost efficient compared to operating a full mortgage servicing unit.

The broader economic trends underpinning the growing popularity of mortgage subservicing look to be strengthening, which will only accelerate this trend. Once an operational cost save, mortgage subservicing has transformed into a strategic choice for many banks.


A day in the life Of...
Zahra Pabani
Zahra Pabani
Partner - Family Law
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Combating forced marriages: a comparative Franco-English perspective
Date:5 JUN 2007

Brigitte Clark and Claudina Richards, School of Law, University of East Anglia. Forced marriages are an extensive problem in Europe as well as in developing countries. It is estimated that some 70,000 adolescents are potentially affected by forced marriage in France, and around 1,000 British citizens are victims of forced marriage every year. The two jurisdictions have developed different legal methods of combating the issue and this article analyses the two approaches. The author considers why the criminalisation of forced marriage has been rejected by the legislature in both countries, with civil law being preferred as a more effective means of eradicating the practice, including, in England, the proposal of creating a civil offence with civil penalties. For the full article see June [2007] International Family Law.